Hand brake for railway cars



Feb. 20, 1923. 1,446,249.

' W. A. GEIGER- HAND BRAKE For: RAILWAY CARS.

FILED MAR. 6.1922.

Patente-tl Feb. 20, 1923.

" NETE@ A iene rarest ortica WILLIAM A. GEGER, OF CHECAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB. 1"0 WILLIAM H. METER, O1?

Carney, NEW YORK.

HAND BRAKE-FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Application :tiled March 1922. SerialNo. 541,337.

Y 10 caZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVILMAM A. Ginenn, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chi` cago, in t-he county of Cook and State of lilinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hand Brakes for ,Railway Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, 'el'erence lieing had to the accompanyingl drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hand brakes for railway cars.

In the operation of hand brakes of the vertical staff type for railway cars, dil'liculty has y been experienced heretofore, due to the binding of the staff when released. Binding of the staif is frequently caused by bulging of the end wall of the car orby bending of the staff, with ythe result that, even though lhe brake is released in the usual manner, the chain will not become fully slack so that the brake shoes will remain in contact with the wheels. y i

The object of my invention is to provide an arrangement especially adapted for hand brakes of the vertical staff type wherein provision is made for positively insuring the full and complete release of the hand brake mechanism to the end that the brake shoes may be freely disengaged from the wheels to minimize weary and reduce the tractive effort required of the locomotive.

In the drawing forlninga `part of this specification, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view through the end wall of the car y Vand showing` my` improvementsin connection therewith. Figure 2 is a vertical, seci tional view of the structure illustrated in Figure 1 and corresponding to the broken section line 2-2 thereof. In Figure 1 the operating handle is shown in operative position, whereas in Figure 2 it is shown in de-` pending inoperativeposition. Figure is a detail plan view of a collaremployed in connection with the locking dog for the purpose hereinafter' described. Figure al is a. plan view of the articulated locking dog. ligure 5 is a View similar .toFigureflibut showing a part of the vrelease handle proper in horizontal section. ,Figure 6 is a horizontal, sectional View corresponding substantially to lthe-Section line 6-6 of Figure 2, illustrating y,the formation and location of certain teeth on the fixed bracket to cooperate with the collarhereinbefore referred to. rind Figure '7 is a vertical, detail, sectional view of the locking dog corresponding to the section line 7 7 of Figure et.

In said drawing, the end wall of the car is indicated at 10 and to which is lsecured a housing or bearing bracket designated generally by the reference character A. Said bracket A. is providedv with a rear wall. 11, riveted or otherwise rigidly secured tothe car wall 10, with a bottom web or wall 12e tending horizontally and provided with a journal bearing 13, an intermediate web or partition 14 and vertical flanges 15 and 16. A cap or cover plate 17 is also employed preferably riveted to the main portion of the bracket casting A. A portion of the usual vertical brake staff is indicated at 18, the same having a squared or other noncircular Ycross section at the top thereof, on which is rigidly fitted a ratchet wheel y19 `ha-ving vertically extending peripheral ratchet teeth` 20. The ratchet wheel'19 is provided'at the bottom thereof with a journal 19a rotating in the bearing 13 and at the top is provided with another journal 19h. Oscillatably mounted on the journal bearing 19h is ya carrier or fulcrum memberdesignated generally by the reference character B. Said carrier B has a substantially annular depending y flange 21 fromr which are extended laterally wings 2222. Pivotally mounted between the wings 22 on a horizontal pivot bolt 23 `is an operating handle or lever '241. n

The handle 24: is provided at the top end thereof with a ylongitudinally extending `socket 25 within which is slidably mounted a pawl 26 normally impelled loutwardly by means of the spring 2T. n The arrangement ofthe handle and pawl is suoli that, when the handle is elevated to a horizontalposition as shown in Figure 1, the pawl is operatively engaged with the ratchet wheel19 `and when the handle is released, it automatically falls to a depending vvertical inoperative position, as shown lin Figure 2. With this'arrangement, it is evident that the staif maybe rotated in a winding direction step by step in the usual manner.

To hold 'the staff against accidental reverse rotation, I employra preferably articu` lated locking dogconsisting ofthe two seo tions 28 and29. The latter is `forked as in` `dicated at 29n292L best in Figure 7, and between `which is received ithe reduced end 28 of the other section of the dog. The in- 'lio terfitting sections 28a and 29a are provided with alined perforations adapting them to be oscillatably mounted on a vertically entendingbolt 30 which is supported in the bracket or housing, as best shown in Figure 2. Between the forked sections29a, the handle or lever element proper of the dog is formed with a curved recess 31 with terminal shoulders S32-32 located opposite corresponding shoulders 33-83 on the other element of the dog.` As best indicated in Figure 5, a predetermined amount of clearance is allowed between the opposed shoulders 32 and so that the dog proper 2S is adapted to oscillate a limited amount, indepcinleutly of the handle or lever proper 29.

The dog proper 28 is provided with a single tooth 34 adapted to cooperate with the teeth 20 of the ratchet wheel and is normally held in yielding engagement therewith by means of a suitable spring 35 interposed between the dog proper 28 and the back wall of the bracket A..

-The upper fork 29 of the handle or lever proper 29 of the releasing dog, is formed with a square or. other non-circular socket 3,6 within which is received a correspondingly shaped section 3T at the lower end of a collar or bushing designated generally by thereference character C. The latter, iinmediately above the square section 37 is of cylindrical form as indicated at 38 and is rotatably and vertically movably mounted in a suitable bearing provided therefor in the web 14 of the bracket as indicated at 39. WWith this arrangement, it is evident that the collaror bushing C will always move in unison with they handle or lever proper 29.

Above the web 14 of the bracket A, the collar or bushing C is `provided with a lat-- erally extended annular iiange 40 on the under side of which are a plurality of circnmferentially spaced depending teeth41- 41. rIlie latter are adapted to cooperate with correspondingly upwardly extending teeth 42-42 on the upper face of the web 14, as best shown in Figure 6. in expansion coil spring` 43 is attached to the bolt 30 and the collar C, as shown in Figure 2, in such a manner as to normally turn the collar in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 and also to normally press it downwardly so that the collar and the lever proper 29 will normally be held in the full line positions indicated in Figure 1. In this position of the parts, the teeth 41 of the collar C are to one side of the fixed teeth 42. The flange 40 of the collar C is cut away as indicated 1 at 44, on that side immediately adjacent the bottom annular flange 45 of the carrier or fulcrum member B so that the latter is free to rotate with respect to the collar C during the winding up or application 'of the brake. Said bottom flange 45 of the carrier B is provided on the upper face thereof with a plurality of circumferentially spaced double cam-acting lugs 46-46 adapted to ride under the flange 40 of the collar C under certain conditions, as hereinafter described.

rIhe operation of the hand brake in winding up will be fully understood from the preceding description, it being clear that the locking dog proper 28 will automatically ride over the ratchet teeth and drop into place without any actuation ofthe collar C or release lever proper 29 When it is desired to release the brake, the brakeman pulls the release lever proper 29 outwardly or away from the wall of the car to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1. This movement of the release lever proper induces a corresponding movement; not only of the dog proper 28 but .also of the collar C. As thelatter is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, the teeth 41 thereof are caused to ride up and over the fixed teeth 42 and engage with the latter automatically so as to lock the `collar C against rotation back to normal position. In this manner the locking dog proper 28 and the release lever proper 29 are held in their dotted line positions shownin Figure 1. Consequently, the brake staff, even though it may stick or bind during the latter. portions of the release of the brakes, due to binding on the staff, will nevertheless be free to continue its rotation in an unwinding direction as the staif, brake chain and other parts of the brake Arigging are jarred and rattled as soon as the car is placed in motion. This results in the brake shoes being fully disengaged from the wheels either shortly after the car is started in motion and the parts will be held-in this condition until the brakes are subsequently again applied.

I/V hen the brake is later applied, the brakenian elevates the handle 24 and pulls the same toward him during which action the carrier B will be correspondingly' rotated, thus causing the cam 46 thereof to ride under the annular iiange 4() of the collar C and thus lift it so as to'disengage the teeth 41 thereof from the fixed teeth 42, whereupon the collar willl be free to rotate back to its normal position, and also be depressed under the action of the spring 43, thus restoring the locking dog and associated parts to their normal operative condition.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner` of carrying out the invention but theV same is meregly illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

i 1. In a hand brake having a vertical staff and a ratchet wheel rigid therewith, the combination with means for rotating said staff in a winding direction; of a locking dog automatically cooperable with said ratchet Wheel to hold the same against rotation in a reverse direction; a release lever articulated with respect to said dog and adapted to move thelatter to inoperative position; and means automatically operable to retain said release lever in its released position to thereby hold the dog out of engagement With the ratchet Wheel.

2. In a hand brake having a vertical stall' and a ratchet Wheel rigid therewith, ythe combination With means for rotating said staff in a Winding direction; of a release lever; a dog movable independently of the release lever, adapted to be actuated by thc latter to an inoperative position; and means automatically operable to hold the release lever in its released position tothereby hold the dog out oi engagement with the ra tcbet Wheel.

3. ln a hand brake having a vertical statt and a ratchet Wheel rigid therewith, the combination With means tor rotating said stail in a Winding direction; of a release lever; a dog movable independently of the release lever, adapted to be actuated by the latter to an inoperative position; means automatically operable to hold theirclease lever in its released position to thereby hold the dog out of engagement with the ratchet Wheel; and means for releasing` said retaining means upon actuation of said rotating means.

Ll. In a device of the character described` the combination With a vertical brake stall having a ratchet Wheel rotatable in unison therewith; of means for rotating said staff step by step in a Winding direction includ.- ing a carrier oscillatably mounted. with respect to the sta and a pavvl operating lever; of a pivotally mounted spring-influenced locking dog cooperable with said ratchet Wheel to normally prevent rotation of the latter in an unyvinding direction; a release lever movable independently of the dog and eooperable with the latter to move it to inoperative position; and spring-influenced means cooperable with said release lever to hold it in inoperative position when manually so moved.

5. In a device of the character described. the combination with a vertical brake stati' having' a ratchet Wheel rotatable in unison therewith; of means for rotating said stati step by step in a'winding direction including a carrier oscillatably mounted with respect to the staff and a pawl operating lever; of a `pivotally mounted spring-inlinenced locking dog cooperable `With said ratchet Wheel to normally prevent rotation of the latter in an unwinding direction; a release lever movable independently of the dog and cooperable with the latter to move it to inoperative position; springini'luenced means cooperable With said release lever to hold it in inoljierative position when manually so moved; and means on said carrier cooperable with said last named meansto automatically disengage the latter upon movement of said carrier.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a car wall; of a vertical brake staff having a ratchet Wheel rotatable therewith; a carrier oscillatably mounted with respect to said staff; a pawl operating gravity drop handle mounted on said carrier and adapted to cooperate with said ratchet Wheel; a locking dog proper pivotally mounted on said bracket and normally cooperable with said ratchet Wheel; a release lever cooperable with said dog proper and having a limited amount of oscillation With respect thereto;` a spring-pressed toothed collar movable `in unison With said release lever; tired teeth on said bracket With which the teeth of said collar are adapted to engage when the release lever is manually moved toinoperative position; and means onL said carrier cooper-able with said collar to release the latter upon oscillation of the carrier;

ln `Witness that l claim the foregoing l' have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of February, 1922.

WILLIAM A. GEIGER.

l/Vitnesses UNA C. GRIGSBY,

ANN BAKER. 

